November 9, 2015

Best companionship EVER. 

Sister Johnson this morning during exercise. ​How sweet is that?

Is it too early for eggnog? Because I drank half a gallon of it this week. It's never too early for eggnog, right? I've already started listening to Christmas music too. Bishop Kunz is not happy that he can hear our Christmas music from upstairs, but he tolerates it. 

TRANSFERS! It's coming up this Friday so be prepared, because there's a very, very slim chance that nothing will change. (so sad)

Here's a fun surprise: WE HAD A BAPTISM ON SATURDAY. I'm not really sure how that happened. So there's this adorably obnoxious 11 year old named TJ who is in a recently re-activated member family and he was planning on being baptized a couple months ago but then something happened and everything went crazy and long story short he was kicked out of school and became a ward of the state and all this nonsense. The family has been a mess since and has been trying to get everything under control. We didn't want to add anything to their plate so we didn't want to bring up baptism again, but then on Tuesday, the Spirit told us to do it, so we did. And they were totally okay with it and TJ was really excited and we somehow threw together a baptism in 4 days. And it was like one of the most spiritual baptisms I've ever been to. TJ was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and he acts up a lot, but he was a little angel on Saturday. He was back to his obnoxious self on Sunday, but he said he felt a difference after he came up out of the water. So cool. I'm so happy for him. I know how much this'll help him. 

How come I only ever baptize sassy adolescent boys?​​​

So funny story, on Tuesday Sister Johnson and Sister Tiritilli decided to let me drive (a mistake they'll never make again, I'm sure) and we went to TJ's house to set him for baptism. We all got out of the car and they asked me if I had the keys and I said yes because I had put them in my pocket, so they locked the car and we started walking towards the house when I realized the keys weren't actually in my pocket. They were sitting on the seat in the car. Soooo we went in the house and set TJ for baptism and then asked them if they knew any good locksmiths. But turns out TJ's aunt, Amber, has what she calls a "slim jim" which is a long metal rod you unlock car doors with. We didn't ask why she had one. But we all went out and she was able to get it unlocked for us for free! Miracle!

We got the conference ensign!!! I'm so happy about that. Except we all have to share and I just want my own. Uchtdorf was seriously on a roll this conference, every single one of his talks was like the best talk I've ever heard. He should always give 3 talks per conference. I read his talk from the Priesthood session today and it's so amazing. Here's a link in case you missed it or want to read it again. Either way, everyone should read it. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/be-not-afraid-only-believe?lang=eng​ 

"I wish I could help everyone to understand this one simple fact: we believe in God because of things we know with our heart and mind, not because of things we do not know . . .

Heavenly Father has prepared for His children a spiritual feast, offering every kind of exquisite food imaginable—and yet, instead of enjoying these spiritual gifts, the cynics content themselves with observing from a distance, sipping from their cups of skepticism, doubt, and disrespect.

Why would anyone walk through life satisfied with the light from the candle of their own understanding when, by reaching out to our Heavenly Father, they could experience the bright sun of spiritual knowledge that would expand their minds with wisdom and fill their souls with joy?"

His talk was just great. "Sipping from their cups of skepticism"? Dang. I love Uchtdorf.

~Sister Temp

November 2, 2015

Remember how Nebraska is super weird and eats chili with cinnamon rolls and I swore I would never be that weird because chili and cinnamon rolls are just wrong? Well, I gave in. And it seems so wrong, but it is the most delicious thing of my life. Who knew? I feel like I had this hole in my life that only this combination could fill. I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat chili without cinnamon rolls ever again. 

​I can't believe this sky is real life.

Oh my goodness, this week was crazy. 

On Monday, we got to carve pumpkins with my favorite family ever, the Gibsons! Ignore the fact that TJ looks a little possessed. It's fine. 

Our ward did a Halloween trunk-or-treat/chili cook-off and on Sunday Sister Johnson and Sister Tiritilli and I decided to jokingly sign up to bring chili, and then the day of the party came and we realized we actually had to make chili. So we threw together a bunch of different types of beans and squash and onions and tomatoes and peppers and put it all in a crockpot and prayed it would turn out okay. And it was flippin delicious, we got second place in the chili cook-off. The Lord answers prayers. We also dressed up and of course I dressed up as the Doctor and it was fantastic. Don't look too closely at my sonic screwdriver though, because it's actually a duck call. But you can't really tell.

And then on Sunday, President Gardner called and told us that he was coming to our sacrament meeting because I never got my president interview this transfer since I got moved to Neb City after he had already done interviews here. So I had my interview and it was great. He's so inspired.

Quote of the Week: "We must never forget that we have the truth. We have the understanding of the entire Plan of Salvation which gives us purpose and meaning in our lives. We know that God love us and is interested in the details of our lives. He loves you personally and he knows who you are. He knows your strengths and he knows your weaknesses. He knows what you can and will become. He wants you to pray to Him and study the Gospel so that you can know what you need to do and how you need to live to return and be with Him.

He has provided His Son Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. Christ loved us so much that He willingly gave His life so that we might live again. We must apply the atonement in our lives, repent fully of those mistakes that we have made so that we can be clean and have the Spirit with us fully as we serve. We must reverently partake of the Sacrament each week so that we can renew our covenants and be washed clean. We must share this message of hope with ALL of our brothers and sisters." ~President Gardner

~Sister Temp

October 26, 2015

​There are these demon bugs everywhere that look like ladybugs but they're not. They're actually like some sort of Japanese beetle that bite. I can't wait for winter so all the bugs will go away.

And of course the clouds are still as wonderful as always.

Oh my goodness, I've never actually seen trees turn red and orange and yellow in real life, I didn't know that was actually a thing. It is SO BEAUTIFUL out here right now.  I've never seen trees so beautiful. Fun fact: Nebraska City started Arbor Day so there are a couple-three billion trees everywhere.

Here's our truck Bruce! He's my favorite. The only downside is that there's no way to plug in a USB to listen to all of our music, so we've been listening to the same CD for the past 2 weeks. But it's a good CD so it's fine. Other fun fact: So, way back when in York, Sister Brunner and I ran into the Aurora elders and their car was dead so we jumped it for them, and I have a picture of us jumping it, and turns out it was Bruce! So Bruce used to be in York too. We bonded a lot over that.

I was so excited to not have a vegetarian companion anymore, but surpriiiiiise, Sister Tiritilli is a vegetarian. So that's fun. Apparently the Lord is trying to tell me something by putting me with the only 2 vegetarian sisters in the mission. 

I don't know if I'm ever going to figure out this ward because literally half of the members at church have the last name of Bennett. So I've realized that if I'm not sure what someone's name is, I can pretty much just call them Brother or Sister Bennett and that's actually been working so far. And I learned yesterday that there are actually 2 separate Bennett families, so they're not all related. But basically everyone in the ward is related to each other. It is so confusing. I'm never gonna figure this out. 

MIRACLES. I wish I could tell you all about every miracle we had this last week, but there were so many, it was ridiculous. Sister Johnson and Tiritilli and I are so successful together. So I'll just talk about my favorite miracle.

A couple days ago, we were on team-ups with this awesome guy named Waylon, who just recently became active again. He told us that he felt like we should go try his friend's ex-girlfriend sometime because he feels like she could really use the help. So yesterday we decided to go see her after church. We knocked on her door and started talking to her and she immediately opened up and told us how lately she's been feeling different like something needs to change and she's been feeling like she needs to come closer to God and she needs to know her purpose in life and that she got goosebumps as soon as she saw us. We started talking to her and told her about the Restoration and the whole time we were talking, she was saying, "This is so weird, this is freaky, I can't believe you guys just showed up, I still have goosebumps" and then she started crying and told us she had been wanting to end her life the last week and she hadn't because of her 2 kids but she didn't know how to go on, and then we all hugged her and told her how much God loved her and then we invited her to be baptized and she agreed. We gave her the Book of Mormon and she told us she was gonna read the whole thing before Tuesday (that might've been an exaggeration, but it's the thought that counts).

Then later, Waylon called and told us that she had been texting him (her name is Ashley by the way) and she told him that we had been an answer to her prayer and that when I prayed at the end, she felt like she had never felt before and she felt wrapped in God's love, and I am just so glad we were able to meet her and help her. 

"Every trial is an opportunity for you to strengthen your relationship with Christ."

~Sister Temp
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